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the good thing about this 2nd half is it applies to wrapping any headband so even if you are not making Mouse Ears you can still use the technique to wrap your headbands with ribbon and give them a new lease on life, or to decorate

It is called crafting in bed.
And whilst every care should be taken as this one does include the use of a flame it is actually pretty easy to do (well for me I cannot speak to anyone else)

at any rate you can craft this anywhere however due to illness and lack of crafting I wanted to find some things I could easily do in bed so on my worst days I did not feel like I was missing out on at least a little bit of creativity.

It is my Mothers Birthday on October the 13th she will be 65 and I can post a picture of her card here early because well she doesn’t use the internet or computers so it is safe. I will be popping this in the post next week.
I used a tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers. for a concertina fold card. To look at it it looks a bit complex and fiddly but as with all the tutorials I have used so far from Splitcoast Stampers it was a lot easier than I expected. My only edge die at present is scalloped and they were just a little to big for the card so I ended up using my first attempt as a practice one and then Made this one using Kaiser Bonjour Papers, some nestabling (see my prize post), A Fiskars birthday stamp, and some die cuts that you get in the Tattered Inspirations Card Kits.

And so here it is my Mums Birthday Card (I also wanted it to be a bit special as she is always anti me buying her presents her reasoning is there is nothing she needs and she has no need of stuff for the sake of it)

(the pictured suitcase boxes are 5″ wide rather than the 6″ in the tutorial it is explained in the instructions how you can alter the size)

A friend showed me a vintage suitcase that had been turned into a work of scrapbooking art. We were talking and as things go she wanted to figure out how to do the same thing on a smaller scale.

I said I had a few ideas I wanted to try and that I would get back to her and thus this tutorial was born.

This is perfect for the budget crafter as it uses just one sheet of 12 cardstock and the leftover bits are put to use. As well as leaving you with some squares that are perfect for inchies or layout titles and such.

Please do not be daunted by the amount of steps involved once you have made one of these you will discover how easy they are to make and how effective they look.

Materials:

A 12×10” piece of Cardstock in a colour of your choice

A 2”x6” piece of cardstock leftover from your original 12×12 or in a contrasting colour (depending on if you have Distress crackle paint or other acrylic paint to use)

Distress Crackle Paint or a contrasting colour in acrylic

10 brads (optional 26 if you would like all 3 of your corner pieces with a brad)

Turn your cardstock to the 10” length and score at: 1”, 2”, 8” and 9” (Please note if you want a smaller length to your box trim off extra cardstock and make sure you score at 1” and 2” on both sides by flipping the cardstock around I did this for the 2 boxes with the pattern paper on them to make them a 5” box.)

Step 3: Cut down the lines of your box along the 12” sides as shown in the picture. Along the edge lines down to the end of your two 1” score lines, please only do the 2nd line on the corners (see step 4 for why you need to do this the L shapes are then recycled into your corner pieces) It should look like this image:

Step 4:

Cut off your corner pieces in an L shape (each part of the L should be a one inch square so you will end up with 3 of them. Also cut off the 2 extra squares in the middle leaving two one inch squares. Your box should look like this picture

Step 5: Place tape as shown in the photo: The inside pieces get tape on the flat cardstock that will fold inside the box, the tabs get tape on the rough side or outer side of the cardstock as shown in the following pics

Step 6 OPTIONAL If you are adding patterned paper to the outside of your box. Score it the same way the 12” side of the cardstock was scored in step one.

Place tape around the top edges of the box and on both sides of all score lines. Stick down your patterned Paper (this method allows for the pattern paper to be adhered not only easily but also in a way that means no bubbles and such later)

Step 7: Fold all your score lines and run a bone folder over them for crispness.

Step 8: Remove the top part of your double stick tape from the ‘tabs’ (the small 1” squares) and attach them to the piece next to them. As shown in the photo:

Repeat step 8 until all 8 corners are stuck down giving you your basic box shape

Step 9: Remove the top layer of your tape from all the long flaps and fold them down (this has the added benefit of making your box a little sturdier)

OPTIONAL: Add your grungeboard strip to the inside of the box hinged bit or place underneath your pp on the outside this will help keep your box in shape. You could also paint it with crackle paint or cover it in felt or faux suede for an added luxury look to your suitcase and adhere it to the bottom (the hinged 2” scored bit that allows your suitcase to be opened and closed)

Step 10: Score your 2”x 6” strip straight down the middle so you have two 1” sides. Turn to the 6” length and then score every 1”. (Please not my pic shows a 12″ strip done the same way you can do this if like me you often loose bits as your making things)

Step 11: Cut these into L shapes like your corner pieces you should now have 8 of these in total.

Step 12: Take one of your L shapes and fold over into one square. As shown in the pic

Step 13: Cut along the diagonal of your square. The best way I can describe this is to make sure you do not cut your ‘fold’ line and that you’re cutting off the open side of your square.

Repeat this for all 8 squares they will end up looking like a sort of square pac man:

Step 14: Paint your corner pieces with Distress Crackle paint or acrylic in a contrasting colour. If you chose to use cardstock in a contrasting colour you can skip this step.

Step 15 when dry place a brad in the centre of each corner piece (I use the piece that is in the centre as such) If you want to add brads to all sides do this now to the other two pieces as well.

Step 16: Paint some multi medium or other adhesive onto the non painted/non presentation side of your corner piece. Stick the triangle that has both of the other triangles attached to the top of the corner of your box (as shown) then stick down the other two triangles over your corner (see the pics below).

Repeat with all 8 corners.
This is what your box will look like

Step 17: Cut a strip of faux upholstery suede, ribbon or trim for your handle. Make sure it is a width your happy with.

Place holes for the brads towards the bottom corners of your Handle. Hold the handle to your box where you want it to be and mark the holes.

I used a tapered AWL (one of the benefits of being a bear maker as it is a tool of the trade however I also find it invaluable for scrapbooking as well) to punch the small holes needed in the box.

Add the brads to your handle and put through the holes.

NOTE: It took me a while to find a way to do the handle that I liked. I make the handle a bit thicker and put the brads down the bottom corners so that it overlaps the top part of the suitcase to look more like a real handle. However this is your suitcase you are free to do your handle how you choose.

Step 18: Measure your ribbon, trim or faux upholstery suede around your box making sure you have enough to go all the way around, with added extra to form your ‘straps’

Step 19: Using your ribbon, trim or thin strips of faux upholstery suede glue them into your ‘buckles’ by folding a piece of the end over and gluing it down. Do this for both strips

Step 20: Do up your straps at either end of your suitcase.

And Viola you did it!! You can now create a mini album or use this as a gift box or decoration. Would also be great for a bon voyage party as party favours. You are only limited by your imagination. I would really love to see your creations if you try this tutorial!

I have a confession; actually it is more of an addiction. I love making mists.

as you can see from this picture of my Misting Box

Sure if I had the budget I would be buying as many as I could get my hands on. However as a budget crafter you cannot beat making your own mists.

It seriously costs you less than about $1 a bottle if you follow my tips.

Lets talk about the Materials you will neeed:

Firstly Invest in Re-Inkers, especially Distress ones. The reason for this is many. There is so much you can do with Re-Inkers above and beyond re inking your stamp pads or using stamping foam to make your own custom stamps or stamp pads for ones you have yet to own the Ink Pad of.

I will actually write up a tutorial on the things you can do with re inkers as I have quite a few.

Anyway back to mists.

Invest in a big jar of your favourite pearl ex powder (pearl, macro pearl or interference gold all make wonderful mists) and some Gum Arabic Powder. Alternately use your perfect pearls or any other mica based pigment powder. Both work really well and will give you different effects. I have used both pearl ex and perfect pearls in mists and love both of them. What I love about pearl ex is the ability to buy a larger jar we can only hope that Ranger will at some point create larger containers for some or all of their Perfect Pearls range.

TIP: Add in your gum Arabic powder straight to your jar of pearl ex and shake well this helps overcome the problem of lumps and having trouble mixing the powder into mists, water colours and other such things. Following the instructions on the bottle of course ¼ gum Arabic to pearl ex

You do not have to buy loads to begin with 10 bottles will give you a good range. The reason I prefer the 50ml bottles is that with the mini misters (these are fantastic for a smaller project when you only want a limited amount of a colour) you do not get a lot of use and often in projects I need to make more mist. So the 50ml bottles go quite far and mean that I do not have to make that mist up every time I want to use it.

You will also notice from the photos that I have a 100ml water bottle also purchased cheaply from eBay.

This one will sound a bit odd but also add to your Misting supplies one bottle of each of the cheap food colourings Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Pink. I got mine at a local supermarket for 99c. These actually make really good mists and can be mixed to make other colours.

A ‘Recipe’ Book to add in a colour sample as well as how much of each Re-Inker or Food Colouring you have used. Also for when you mix your own colours and such.

A Black Sharpie or other Black permanent Marker to write in your Recipe Book and on Your Bottles.

An Eye Dropper and small spoon or scoop.

Water (I use an old soft drink/soda bottle and always have it handy in my craft space)

So now you have all your materials what next?

Now you get to play Mad Scientist and experiment

Let’s start with a Basic Re-Inker Mist pick a colour and let’s begin

Step 1. Fill your bottle with water leaving some room at the top. Remember you can always add more water after you have made your mix but want enough room to add your shimmer powder and re-inker

Step 2. Add a small scoop of your powder (when you have made a few you will discover the joy of trying different combinations of coloured powders for different effects however for the most part I stick to a neutral or golden shimmer so as to make my home made mists more versatile.) Swirl your bottle to mix in your shimmer

Step 3. Now this will depend on the strength of colour of the Re-Inker as well. Colours like spun sugar will no matter how much Re-Inker you add only ever give you the barest hint of colour so choose slightly darker colours if you want bold bright mists. Add in one eye dropper full of your Re-Inker, put your spray nozzle back on and mix well, do a test Spritz on a blank piece of white paper to see if you like the strength of the colour. If it is not strong enough add some more Re-Inker, this takes a little bit of intuition as you may need one or two more eye droppers full or just a few more drops. Think about the depth of colour you want.
I used Forrest Moss and one full eyedropper was more than enough to make the colour

Tip: Start gradually and build up it is far easier than going to dark and having to then turn what would be one bottle of mist into two

Step 4: In your ‘Recipe’ Book write down your recipe with your permanent Marker. Also write it on your bottle

Step 5: Mist your ‘Recipe’ and allow it to dry

And that is it a basic Mist made and ready for you to use

Food Colouring Mists are made in the exact same way. Just substitute Re-Inker for the food colouring and use a bit more caution as the food colouring is very concentrated. You can also use India inks, and other fluid based inks. I really want to try making a mist with brilliance re-inkers as I think you could get a lovely shimmer from them without needing to add perfect pearls or pearl ex.

Tip: Experiment with making your own colours. Mix Both Re-Inkers and Food Colouring together for some great colours.

Tip: Use Black Soot or Black India ink added a single drop at a time to intensify and darken colours. Do not use with light colours such as pale pinks and yellows as the black will totally take over these colours.

That is it some homemade misting basics.

I love Mists. As a budget crafter for me it is about stretching every craft dollar as far as possible to allow me to be as creative as I can. Home Made mists are a fantastic way to do this.

However the pre made variety are rather awesome. If you’re on a budget look for the value packs and store specials to help you build up your collection or try making your own.